"They don't give easy battles to the best warriors. I consider myself a warrior and there are still battles to win."

Even in the most tame of pre-season press calls, Diego Simeone's insatiable desire to come out on top is there. It's the start of a new campaign in Spain, beginning tonight, and El Cholo is still stitching together his broken heart that was once again ripped open in comprehensive fashion

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, Atleti did two things. First they promised him the world, and second they left him be. They let him heal.

A combination of president Enrique Cerezo and chief executive Miguel Angel Gil asked Simeone to remain with Atletico and played on their knowledge of the 46-year-old. They told him they wanted him to coach the club for its final, historic season at the Vicente Calderón. They told him they wanted him to lead them into their new stadium at La Peineta.

But most importantly they told him that they would buy him who he wants, this summer, to help him heal those wounds the only way possible. By winning.

Diego Simeone is ready to return to the touchline after struggling with Champions League final defeat (Image: Getty)

The Argentine coach has emerged from a dark mood in the wake of the shootout loss to Real Madrid (Image: David Ramos)

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Simeone went on holiday with his partner and his kids but the decision had been made. He was staying, and within days he was formulating another plan to try and overthrow La Liga (and Europe's) duopoly.

Atletico know that in a post-Simeone world, Champions League finals and challenging for league titles may not be realistic. It may not be possible.

It is a measure of the job done by Simeone on the banks of the Manzanares is that he has achieved what was previously thought impossible while what he wants to do next - reaching the absolute summit of the game - doesn't seem that far away.

Diego Simeone usurped Barca and Madrid to win the 2014 league title (Image: Alex Livesey)

Atleti's summer transfers have evidenced those discussions of May and June. Nicolas Gaitán and Kevin Gameiro have arrived at significant cost. The two are in their late 20s and boast little resale value but Atletico are in what NFL teams call 'win-now mode' - where titles are the only option and they see their Super Bowl window (as it were) closing.

Sime Vrsaljko's arrivals strengthens the defence and adds depth at full-back, but beyond the personnel there is also to be change in how Atletico play.

Training ground sources speak of Simeone's period of self-reflection this summer clarifying his vision, but also realising some faults. His system - arguably the world's best - will not be adapted much but it has been fine-tuned. Tweaked.

Atletico have tweaked their system in pre-season, as was visible against Spurs in Australia (Image: Getty Images)

Young players will continue to emerge from Atleti's brilliant academy (Image: Jack Thomas)

Full-backs will, this season, start higher up the field. Atletico, one of Europe's most reactive teams, will be more pro-active than they have ever been. They will support their attacking talent more than ever before.

And what is interesting is that in their obvious bid to be 'win-now', they have this summer juxtaposed themselves with their cross-city rivals whose whole existence is usually predicated on that exact concept.

The Valdebebas training ground is a weird place. With its golf buggies, perfectly-manicured lawns and water features it is how you might imagine a Dignitas clinic to be - place where second-rate midfielders come to die under the withering light of public opinion.

One day last spring, as Zidane was walking silently down the path towards the main building, second-teamers and youth players turned their heads to stare at him, talking in hushed tones. Simply being in his presence it is clear that he is king at Valdebebas, as he is at the Bernabeu.

There's an untold respect for him from the crêche to Cristiano, and if he had that aura about him then, pre-Milan, what now?

The Frenchman has now won a Champions League as a player, assistant and manager with this club. And yet you could argue we still don't know too much about him as a coach beyond a calm manner and the fairly obvious tactical observations.

Zinedine Zidane won the Champions League in his first season in charge (Image: Getty Images)

The Frenchman has proved far more popular with his players than predecessor Rafa Benitez (Image: UEFA.tv)

His big call this summer was to replace none of his starting XI from last season. That loyalty could prove to be a uniting force, a choice that ends up on page 1 of their Liga-winning season review. But at this stage it feels a little more like the naïveté of an inexperienced coach, especially with a transfer ban incoming and Cristiano Ronaldo already on the wane.

Had someone told you on January 1 that Real Madrid would win the Champions League and Portugal would win Euro 2016 this year then it would have seemed impossible that either would do so without being dragged there by the 31-year-old.

And yet both titles seemed to happen almost in spite of the Portuguese. Ronaldo scored in the Milan shootout but didn't turn a game after his quarter-final display against Wolfsburg.

Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal kisses the Henri Delaunay trophy to celebrate after their 1-0 win against France in the UEFA EURO 2016 Final match between Portugal and France at Stade de France on July 10, 2016 in Paris, France.

Ronaldo is a Ballon d'Or shoo-in after winning the two biggest trophies of the year (Image: Getty)

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He will shortly be rewarded with a new five-year contract, even after a season when it was obvious that Gareth Bale is the real superstar forward. Expect that transition to become more pronounced in the upcoming campaign and even moreso if the Welshman can stay on the field.

Ronaldo and Bale will be supported this season by the returning duo of Alvaro Morata and Marco Asensio. The latter is a brilliant prospect who will shine as and when he is given the opportunity. At only 20 years of age, Asensio has been promoted when it would have been easier to buy in, suggesting that Real Madrid plan to combat their transfer ban by looking internally for players while continuing to look externally for conspiracies and figures to blame.

Marco Asensio of Real Madrid will impress this season (Image: GETTY)

Alvaro Morata has also returned to the Bernabeu (Image: EPA)

Barcelona too have gone young this summer albeit at greater expense.

"Titles are good but they belong in the past," said Luis Enrique, so he invested in the future by buying in four 22-year-olds to add depth and potential first-team talent. Samuel Umtiti will likely see the most gametime this year but Lucas Digne, Andre Gomes and Denis Suarez are set to play plenty too and are ready to contribute.

Luis Enrique is right to be pursuing a 'fourth forward' and it suggests he has learned his lesson from last season - the need to rest his front three - but the search goes on.

Flogged for 60 games a season year in, year out, Barca's spring wobble spoke to an accumulated fatigue that their superstar frontline couldn't shake. Given they were the best team in Europe for much of the season, they can legitimately feel that it cost them a tilt at the Champions League.

When fit and fresh, they are the best team in world football. They are so good that last season's double feels like a disappointment and the character shown by Luis Enrique's side to overcome their blip, led brilliantly by Gerard Pique, should alter some perceptions of this side.

Lionel Messi is refreshed and back for the new season (Image: Sportsfile via Getty)

But a tired Lionel Messi saw Barca lose out in the Champions League during their spring blip (Image: AFP;Getty)

The three title contenders in La Liga have all taken different paths this summer.

Barcelona went for depth and a rejuvenation of their squad, Zidane went for continuity and Atletico went for gold, for the final piece in the jigsaw.

The result is a title race where the underdogs are the team with their eyes most on the prize. Barcelona and Real Madrid challenge for La Liga on an almost autopilot but there is a sense that this season won't be quite so straightforward, with Atletico built specifically for this moment and Simeone is keen to emphasise that.

"This is a different year for everyone," he said.

"We're leaving the Calderón, the history, the legend, the things we've lived there. It can't just be another year."

Whether he can convert Atletico's pain into progress will define a season already providing much intrigue.